Baroness Claire Tyler of Enfield in the House of Lords

The NHS Long Term Plan: Lots to welcome, lots to worry about.

On January 31st I spoke in a debate on the NHS Long Term Plan, which was published in January . While I think there is much to welcome in the plan I also express my worries over areas the plan is silent on. You can read my speech in this debate here and watch the debate here.

One area I particularly worry about is whether the NHS will be able to recruit the workforce to deliver the Long Term Plan. For example, we will need to find over 20,000 extra mental health staff in order to achieve the goal that 100% of children with mental health will be able to access treatment over the next decade. This is why I questioned the government over whether it would fund a “Mental Health” careers campaign aimed at secondary school and University Students to help plug this hole. You can watch me ask this question here and read it in Hansard here.

“However, there is also much to worry about—mainly things about which the plan is silent. The NHS does not operate in isolation, and I am concerned—like many other noble Lords—that many of the laudable aims of the plan are being directly undermined by cuts elsewhere to public health and social care budgets.”